COLUMBUS, Ohio (11/17/17) — In the devastation left in the wake of Hurricane Maria, thousands of Puerto Ricans were left without food, water or shelter. While support funneled in from across the mainland U.S., many areas of Puerto Rico remained inaccessible due to storm damage.
Members of the Ohio Army National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 137th Aviation Regiment deployed to the area with two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters to assist the local populace. Their mission was two-fold; get supplies, mostly food and water, to areas cut off due to the hurricane damage and to provide transportation for medical, law enforcement and recovery personnel.
“The mission went well for us,” said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Paul Tumidolsky, the aircraft maintenance officer on the mission. “It took a lot of work, working in austere environments and with units from other states and agencies, along with doing the mission; but in the end it was a great experience.”
In addition to flying and maintenance of the Ohio aircraft, the Soldiers provided maintenance and logistical support to other units from Pennsylvania, Minnesota and Puerto Rico that were part of the task force, as well as the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol.
Despite the conditions, morale among the team and those they were assisting was positive.
“One thing that struck us was that (many Puerto Ricans) had no power and in a lot of cases no water, yet despite those conditions, they still went to work during the day and then went home missing the basics that we take for granted on a daily basis,” Tumidolsky said. “They just went about their business of getting back to ‘normal’ with a positive attitude.”
Members of the unit had previously supported recovery efforts including Hurricane Katrina, earthquake relief in Haiti and Superstorm Sandy.
“It is easy to get caught up with your job and not see the big picture of what is going on in other parts of the mission,” Tumidolsky said. “It was a morale boost and a sense of pride and accomplishment for the Soldiers when they got to see the payoff of their efforts; we really enjoyed being there to help them out.” |
